02/29/2024 – 22:16
Minister Carlos Augusto Amaral Oliveira, of the Superior Military Court (STM), voted this Thursday, 29, to reduce tenfold – from 30 years to three – the sentence imposed on the eight soldiers accused of the execution of musician Evaldo Rosa dos Santos , whose car was shot at by more than 80 shots in 2019, in Rio. The brigadier defended the declassification of the crime attributed to the military, from intentional homicide, to culpable homicide – when there is no intention to kill.
The position was defended during the trial session, on the afternoon of this Thursday, 29, of the appeal that seeks to reverse the conviction of the military, in the first degree, for the intentional homicides, double qualified, of Evaldo and the can collector Luciano Macedo, in addition of the attempted murder against Sergio Gonçalves de Araújo, Evaldo's father-in-law.
The ruling of the first instance of the Union Military Court, in October 2021, imposed sentences ranging from 28 to 31 years in prison on the soldiers. The soldier who received the longest sentence – 31 years and six months in prison – was Lieutenant Ítalo da Silva Nunes, who commanded the combat group on the day of Evaldo and Luciano's murder. The rest received 28 years and were excluded from the Army ranks.
With the proposal presented by the rapporteur this Thursday, the 29th, Ítalo's sentence would be reduced to three years and seven months in detention. The other seven officers would face three years in prison.
Carlos Augusto Amaral Oliveira's vote was followed by reviewer José Coelho Ferreira. The trial was then suspended due to a request for review. There is no date for the discussion to return to the STM agenda.
The murders took place on April 7, 2019, in Guadalupe, north of Rio. Evaldo was going to a baby shower with his family, when his car was shot at with more than 80 shots and a rifle. According to the complaint from the Military Justice Prosecutor's Office, the military fired 257 times during the patrolling action. Evaldo died instantly and Luciano died days later in hospital, after being hit trying to help the musician.
In addition to Ítalo, Sergeant Fabio Henrique Souza Braz da Silva, Corporal Leonardo de Oliveira de Souza, and soldiers Gabriel Christian Honorato, Gabriel da Silva de Barros Lins, João Lucas da Costa Gonçalo, Marlon Conceição da Silva and Matheus Santanna were convicted. Claudino.
The other four soldiers were acquitted due to lack of evidence: corporal Paulo Henrique Araújo Leite and soldiers Vitor Borges de Oliveira, Wilian Patrick Pinto Nascimento and Leonardo Delfino Costa.
Defense
The military's defense requested the annulment of the process, alleging defects in the processing, with a new trial to be held. If this request is not accepted, he asked for the officers to be acquitted by recognizing self-defense. In the alternative, it was requested that the crime of homicide be declassified to the culpable modality or else the qualification would be dropped.
Lawyer Rodrigo Henrique Roca Pires argued that the military acted in a 'confrontational context' and that the case involves an 'excusable error' since 'none of us would be given to act in any other way in that context'. “Unfortunately, there are victims, but it was fatal. Two victims regrettably. It just doesn’t have to be ten,” he said.
He claimed that anyone who acts assuming an action that would be justified if confirmed is exempt from punishment. That the officers' error is 'fully justified by the circumstances'. He further stated: “Troops across the country are anxiously awaiting the decision of the collegiate to know what they will do from now on. Whether it's going to be hierarchy or discipline or self-protection. Whether they can act or fold their arms.”
Judgment
The STM board is made up of fifteen ministers: ten general officers of the highest rank in the Armed Forces and five civilian ministers. Of the military, four are army generals, three squadron admirals and three air brigadier lieutenants. The civilians are three from the OAB, one from the Military Public Ministry and another from a career as a federal judge at the Union Military Court.
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